


United We Stand, Divided We Fall

by buckyjerkbarnes



Series: Steve Rogers is Tired of this Malarkey [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 2016 election - Freeform, American Politics, American social issues, Gen, Hopeful Ending, I'm so fucking done, Love each other, M/M, Politics, Steve Rogers is not here for any bullshit, US Politics - Freeform, also we're going to pretend that civil war didn't happen, and everyone is happy, and numb, honestly fuck donald trump, i'm rage quitting, like I feel cold, me @ the rest of the world: holy hell i am so so so so sorry, this is not the time for fear but the time to come together, we have to protect one another
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-09
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-30 01:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8513800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyjerkbarnes/pseuds/buckyjerkbarnes
Summary: So it's November 9th, 2016 and a sociopathic, xenophobic, homophobic, racist, bigoted asshat with a three dollar toupee and a fucked up spray tan is now the new POTUS and I, an American citizen who got my ass out of bed at 6:45am and voted for HRC, am very, very angry and very, very scared.  [Or: Trump thinks, like many fuckboys, that Captain America would support him- Steve Rogers has words to say about that.]





	

**Author's Note:**

> I...am absolutely speechless right now. As an American speaking to literally everyone else: I am so fucking sorry. 
> 
> And for anyone wondering, I am American and from the state of Virginia (HRC's running mate, Tim Kaine's, home state). I'm smack dab in the middle of an extremely rural area so, of course, it was majority Republican except for the northern Washington DC area (THANK YOU AT LEAST FOR HAVING SOME SENSE!!!!!!!!!!).

_2016._

 

It started with a simple string of words on a social media platform that Steve had never taken very much interest in. He probably would never have caught wind of it, never would have wished his eyes would dissolve in his head or his ears would swallow themselves up like a pair of black holes just to have never seen and heard such a line of idiocy. 

Tony was the one who showed him, only because he thought it was funny. In reality, it was anything but: 

 

 **Donald J. Trump**  @realDonaldTrump

I honestly feel as though Captain America would support me in my quest to #MakeAmericaGreatAgain

 

"What the actual  _fuck_ ," Steve said. Not a question. A statement. A pure  _how did my life lead me to such a low, low point_ demand from a higher being. 

Bucky bit off a corner of his toast, quietly chewing before swallowing and asking: "Is that the stupid tiny-hand fucker who has his name in gold on a tower in Manhattan?" 

Steve squeezed Tony's tablet so hard it cracked in two.

 

*

 

"Yes, hello, this is Steve Rogers. Yes. Yes. Captain America. Yep. Sure. Okay. I want to do a press conference. When? Sooner the better, ma'am. I'll do it fifteen seconds and I'll do it at three in the morning, I just need to  _do it._ Oh! Eight tonight? That sounds swell, ma'am. Thank you. See you then." 

On the couch on their floor of the tower, Bucky slurped at his banana smoothie. He cocked an eyebrow up at Steve. 

"You know I can't sit down and stay quiet, Buck," he said, sinking down on the cushions and curling an arm around Bucky's shoulders. Tipping in, Bucky's mouth met his, a gentle press of lips. His heart beat a little faster, always did when they kissed. He could be three thousand years old and it still feel like the first time. 

Bucky carded his fingers through Steve's hair, giving the occasional tug that made Steve preen. "I know, doll. Hopefully they'll save me a seat in the front row to watch you drag their conservative views through the mud." 

 

*

 

The lights were trained on him, as were all the cameras in the CNN studio. Though there was no live audience, there was a line of chairs just beyond the tech operators where Bucky had taken a seat.  

When the head cameraman sent Steve the signal, he began to speak. He had ten minutes- he needed to make them count. 

"Good evening, my name is Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America. I asked my kind friends here at the CNN headquarters here in Manhattan to come on here tonight in order to explain something that has been bothering me greatly. 

"Late yesterday, the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tweeted that he believed I would stand behind him in his quest to," and Steve's face curled up in disgust at the prospect of having to say the words aloud, " _make America great again_." He shuddered. "I would like to say, nice and clear, that I, in fact, do not support Mr. Trump in anything, especially in his running for presidency. 

"Mr. Trump has absolutely no experience as a politician. He tried to run as a Democratic nominee in 2012, but switched over to the Republican party for this race. He is completely unstable and is in no way fit to serve in the highest office on earth. This man can't even take a jab on Twitter without firing back like a five year old. Many would like to say they are voting for Trump because he is a good businessman. They may be claiming this, but the facts behind them would crumble if someone so much as did a Google search. 

"Nearly every venture he set out to accomplish failed. His company  has filed for bankruptcy six individual times. He bankrupt a  _casino_ , literally a place flooding with money and he ran it into the ground. Many say we need a businessman to get our economy back on track, but if this man can't even keep a casino gathering steady profits, what makes you think that he could possibly help the United States? The only thing he's ever done is yell "you're fired" on his reality show and make celebrities cry.

"Never has he dealt with foreign policy. He believes that building a wall and bombing ISIS will solve everything. Take a look at a history book, Mr. Trump: look at Vietnam- vicious bombing only draws out a war. We should not be building walls, but building bridges to connect ourselves, to become more inviting and adopt a level of equality that great people like Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr. and even our own President Obama today have and continue to work for tirelessly.

"This man supports only those who are like him: rich white men. If you elect him and you are anything but that, you are automatically dooming yourself. That means if you are a woman, a Jew, Muslim, part of the LGBT+ community, and so on, this puts you in immediate danger. How do you think we look to the rest of the world? Do you think they aren't watching? Men like Putin and Kim Jong-Un and even the KKK have endorsed him. Do you think that's a joke? Am I laughing? If this man wins, he will go down in history and be studied among men like Lincoln and FDR, good men who brought about positive change for this nation. This isn't even a done deal yet, and I am thoroughly embarrassed for how we must be perceived by outsiders.  

"Trump has several pending rape cases against him and he degraded the women who accused him and yet 'no one respects women more than he does'? When asked if he would concede the election, he told the nation during the final presidential debate that he'd leave us in suspense. This is a man who is a threat to over two hundred years of peaceful transition of power. Please consider this same man will be around nuclear launch codes and know America's deepest secrets if elected. We must band together to keep that from happening. A Trump presidency must not happen if we value peace and liberty. 

"And though most of the early polling deadlines have come and gone, when November eighth rolls around, I implore you to cast your ballot for Hillary Clinton," he pulled a breath in through his teeth, ran his tongue over his lips to dampen them. He had under two minutes left. "I know she is not perfect, and many of you wanted to see Bernie Sanders take the Democratic nomination at the DNC, but she is our best hope in defeating the ugly beast that is Trump-inspired bigotry. This is a woman with over thirty years of raw political experience under her belt- she served as first lady of Arkansas, first lady of the United States, as a senator of New York, and as Secretary of State. 

"Her policies benefit the whole, not the few and that is the most important thing to be considered in this election. Do not let your vote be guided by fear-tactics. 

"I have surrounded myself with strong women all my life- my Ma, Peggy Carter, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, the list can just go on- and in my doing that, I have a profound respect for Secretary Clinton. She listens to the public, she compromises, and she accomplishes. I cannot tell you what to do, but I ask that you not vote for any third party candidate, no matter how badly you believe the two prime candidates are. There are no two evils in this case: there is an extreme wrong and a definite right."

He had all of thirty seconds remaining. Time for the final statement. 

"Bucky, please come up here?" 

After mere milliseconds of bemusement, Bucky did, a smirk tipping up the corners of his mouth. He had his  _you come here often, sweetheart_? expression in place, giving Steve strong bedroom eyes. He stood up, tracking out the corner of his eye that the camera had kept following him, and when Bucky was close enough, he wrapped an arm around his middle, dipping him low for a searing, noisy French kiss. It was like that one photo of the navy officer laying a huge one on that nurse after the war, only in color, between two men, and on live television. 

When they parted, Steve kissed him once more, soft as a feather, because  _fuck it_. He turned and looked directly into the camera. Said: "That was especially for you, Mike Pence," sweet as candy. "America is already great- electing Donald Trump will only leave a gaping hole in our nation's unity and obliterate the last hundred years spent moving towards equality. And for the love of all you value: get out to the polling stations and  _vote_ come Election Day!" 

 

*

 

They broke Twitter. 

And Tumblr. 

Trump did not say a word. Steve believed Trump's advisers might have had something to do with that. 

Steve invited Secretary Clinton to the Avengers tower to chat about her policies, what she planned to do to unite the American people in one of the most divisive elections in the history of the nation, and, when all was said and done, her grandchild. He walked her down to her car in the private garage, took a photo with her that he uploaded to Instagram (another platform that got over-run with likes and ended up shutting down for a few hours), and shook her hand. 

She had a firm grip, unwavering. Strong. 

 

*

 

He did not get any sleep election night. Steve broke four television remotes flipping back and forth between FOX and CNN, trying to get the scoop on both sides, and only realized he could ask FRIDAY to put up a split-screen once Bucky suggested it. Secretary Clinton started out with a strong lead, getting ahead by snagging New York and Kaine's native Virginia. 

And then the less densely populated states, the ones carrying only three to five to six electoral votes came rolling in and the southern states submitted their ballots.

All Steve saw, literally, was red.

(The crazy decaying orange peal actually won. He fucking did it.)

 

*

 

He could do nothing but sit awake, curled into Bucky's side on their too-soft California king bed, and  _worry_. 

Natasha, though she'd been living in the US for years, had never become an official citizen of America. 

Wanda was an immigrant and in the process of becoming a US citizen. 

Sam was a black male, as was Rhodey, both of whom were retired military and would likely see their benefits drop. 

Clint was hearing impaired.

He and Bucky were gay, with Bucky having an extra dose of minority in that he's Jewish, too. 

The only thing protecting Bruce and Tony were the color of their skin. 

He did not like think what that meant for the mind-set of the rest of America, of the rest of the world. 

Steve had his low moment of defeat, but he wasn't finished. Not yet. The people he'd silently vowed to defend when he picked up the shield in 1942 still remained. His task, his very purpose, still remained. 

 

*

 

"You know what?" Steve asked, pulling on his uniform as Bucky watched him from their bed. 

"I feel like you're going to tell me," Bucky murmured, sleep-soft and warm. Stray tendrils of hair fluttered around his face from where they'd escaped the confines of his man-bun in the night. 

He said: "We've got to accept that the democratic process put us in this situation, that the choice of the people was for Donald Trump to be president. This puts us all in a shitty place, yeah, but this is not the time to falter. If anything, this is the time to stand together and keep that tiny orange prick from accomplishing anything during his four years in office. We need unity right now and I think, in the face of this terrifying moment, we can achieve just that." 

Bucky pushed away the covers, checking his phone as it lit up on the nightstand. "Everyone is waiting to head out in the common floor." 

Steve smiled, a bloody, dangerous thing. "He'll never see us coming." 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Despite the grim ending, the Avengers aren't going to kill Trump (because they'd have to take out Pence, too), but they are going to go out and band together to protect those who are in danger. There is no way to undo this choice. So, now, we must also stand united in the face of a monster and defend one another. We cannot succumb to fear. And on that note, I'm going to take a fucking nap.
> 
> EDIT 11/11: LITERALLY @ EVERYONE WHO IS SCARED AND FEARING FOR THEIR LIVES: my babies, my babies I know it is terrifying. I know- I'm living in the midst of a town that is total heart eyes for Trump and if I didn't have outlets like these and Tumblr and my extremely liberal friends, then I'd probably be really shaken up. For those not really aware of American politics, I want to gently break it down for you. Take a breath. Hold it. Let it go. Just breathe. Okay, here we go-
> 
> The US has a system of checks and balances. What does that mean? We have a three branch system (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial) and yes there is/will be a Republican majority in all of those once Trump elects a new Supreme Court judge to fill the one vacancy left by the Justice that passed away earlier this year, but checks and balances? Those make sure that Trump just can't do whatever he wants. Laws have to be put through Congress and over half if not nearly all of what Trump wants to do will NOT pass. Seriously. He isn't as conservative as he thinks he is. 
> 
> HE HAS NO POWER TO OVER-TURN SAME SEX MARRIAGE. POTUS DOES NOT HAVE THAT POWER. NEVER HAS, NEVER WILL. HE CANNOT DO THIS. UNLESS HE CAN FIND A CASE TO OVER RULE IT WHICH, GOOD FUCKING LUCK YOU GIANT SACK OF SHIT, IT AIN'T HAPPENING BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO DO SO. He cannot take away marriage licenses from already married couples. Mike Pence is the silent but deadly horror movies warn you about and the words conversion therapy are... God I have no words for that, but with the loud Democratic voices we have, the likelihood of an act passing is low. /Extremely/ low. 
> 
> If you're a POC, please, please be safe my darlings. If you're of Islamic or Jewish faith or any other sort of religious sect that is threatened, I am holding you, all of you, in my prayers. We won't let him or any of his supporters win. We must come together in these tough, trying times, and fight hate with all the love and unity we can drudge up from our souls. Like First Lady Michelle Obama said- "When they go low, we go high." 
> 
> I love all of you so, so much. Though the road will be rocky and bleak at points, everything will be okay. Thank you, I love you, be safe. 
> 
> (I'm on [Tumblr](http://sgtbxrnes.co.vu/) if you need an outlet to talk x)


End file.
